Their view: Waste inevitable in government programs

Mona Charen is a conservative political columnist who writes for Creators Syndicate.

Here’s a snippet from a piece she wrote encouraging the Washington Post to do more to expose government excesses following its recent in-depth, multi-part, two-year investigation into the vast network of government security agencies and private contractors.

It may interest the Post to learn there are 70 different programs in 13 different federal agencies addressing the problem of teen drug abuse.

There are 160 different job-training programs, 50 homeless assistance programs, 27 programs to avert teen pregnancy, and 90 programs on early childhood development.

According to a recent Government Accountability Office report, “at least 12 federal departments and agencies were responsible for hundreds of community development programs that assist distressed urban communities and their residents.

Historically, there is but little coordination among the agencies, posing an unnecessary burden on communities seeking assistance.” To say nothing of the taxpayers.

It doesn’t surprise conservatives to find waste, duplication, and gross overspending in the military and in the security agencies of government. We know this is inevitable in government programs.

As Milton Friedman said, “No one washes a rented car.”